


Familiar Tragedies

by Gay_as_fuck



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Older Brothers, Speculation, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 14:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11038176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gay_as_fuck/pseuds/Gay_as_fuck
Summary: Celica and Saber bond over the people they have lost and the pasts they've left behind.





	Familiar Tragedies

**Author's Note:**

> So I took a lot of liberty with Saber's past, i mean hell i'm pretty sure saber' sister (charlotte is a name I made up for her) is still alive or something. Either way I liked the idea of Saber being a new older brother to Celica and her being his little sister. Their dynamic gives me life.

The camp’s construction that night was slow going. Everyone was dead on their feet but there was firewood to gather, a meal to cook, and wounds to dress before anyone could sleep.

Celica felt like collapsing where she stood and not waking up for the next three days. If it were just her, she’d find a guarded place and just fall asleep. She had a group to take care of and decided it was her job to gather wood.

She started walking through the camp, looking for someone to assist her. Valbar was clearing out a fire pit. Kamui sat propped up on a log next to him, watching with a smile.

“Hello”, Celica greeted them. Valbar turned to her and beamed, Kamui attempted to do the same but gritted his teeth in pain as he turned.

“I need some assistance gathering firewood. Could either of you lend me a hand?” Valbar’s smile faltered slightly and Kamui grimaced worse. 

“I’ll help” Kamui offered, trying to stand up. Valbar walked over and put his hand on Kamui’s shoulder, pressing down. 

“You are not getting up. I am under strict orders to keep you from opening up your wounds and that means you’re not allowed to do hard work.” Kamui sighed and settled back down. 

“I’ve been itching to go exploring since we got here, and with all the battling we haven’t got the chance.” 

“Celica, I can’t come with you. I’ve got to make sure Kamui doesn’t kill himself by mistake.” Celica gave a small laugh, eyeing Kamui’s pout. 

“Do you know where Atlas is?” Celica asked, looking around quickly.

“Sadly, I’m afraid our friend is in the medical tent getting a nasty gash treated.” Valbar shook his head, clenching his fist and putting it up to his lips. 

“Thank you anyways, I’ll see if Saber can give me a hand.” Celica left the overdramatic man in hopes of finding Saber and getting the work done before her body gave out.

Saber was leaning on a tree at the edge of camp, glaring out into the dark woods. 

“Hello Saber, I need some help with collecting wood. Could you assist me?”

Saber looked to Celica and rolled his eyes. He pulled himself up with a groan, dutifully following Celica but not beyond complaining about it.

“Couldn’t you get that Atlas fellow to do it, he used to farm work right? Told me about cow shit once.” Celica couldn’t work up the energy to be amused by her companion’s informal nature. Instead, she focused on keeping her body steady as they walked into the woods.

Her stagger began to worsen as the walked further into the forest. All the wood they could find seemed to be far too wet for firewood. 

After about thirty minutes Celica had to take a moment to steady herself, leaning against a tree. Saber raised his eyebrow and noted Celica’s level of exhaustion.

“A flag in the wind is more stable than you are. Sure you can even make it back to camp?” Saber asked, moving to Celica’s side. 

“I’ll be fin-” Celica yawned involuntarily, undermining her own point. Saber gave a ‘tsk’ and dropped the few sticks he was carrying. The clattered to the ground as he swooped Celica up.

“You’re light as a feather Princess if I never saw you fight I’d figure there was no muscle on you.” Celica attempted to protest, squirming slightly. Saber kept a stable grip on her as he turned back to camp. 

“Stop squirming or I will knock you out” Saber growled in annoyance, shifting Celica’s weight slightly. 

“Fine”, came Celica’s reply as she stilled. Saber shifted Celica’s weight again, noticing how light she seemed. He frowned slightly and shot her a glance.

“You been eating enough?” Celica didn’t reply, she just gave a huff.

“I don’t appreciate being treated like a child you know.” Celica’s tone was all bitterness though Saber didn’t take offense.

“I’ve seen what you can do lass, you’re real mature and all. Sadly you are still a child and it’s my job to make sure you don’t die. It’s what you hired me for.”

“That is something that has been bothering me lately. You always say you’ll only go with me as far as my payment will take you. We’re far beyond that. You don’t need to take care of me like this, any other mercenary wouldn’t.” Saber gave a huff and looked away from Celica’s inquisitive eyes. 

“I told you once, you remind me of my sister. Stupidly selfless, to the point of self-destruction. I like your spunk lass. And I couldn’t stand it if something happened again.” The word ‘again’ had barely made its way out of Saber’s mouth before he clenched his jaw. 

He cursed himself for saying too much. Maybe if he was lucky Celica would ignore the word and he’d never have to talk or think about the past again. She was extremely perceptive however and even someone with half her mind would have noticed.

“Again?” Celica asked, worry creasing her brow. She was too young to be getting worry lines. 

“Something bad happened.” Saber figured that was enough to get Celica off of his case. He underestimated her, as he had done many a time. 

“I used to keep everything bottled up like you do, and it didn’t do me any good. I just ended up bitter and alone.” Saber made a sarcastic noise mixed with slight amusement, there wasn’t a better way to describe him.

“A friend of mine helped me open up once, and it hurt to tell the story but it felt nice afterward. I knew didn’t have to keep all the sorrow to myself.” Saber grit his teeth, hoping that she wouldn’t push him into telling the story any further. Her determination was really starting to get on his nerves.

“It helps, it really does.” Celica sounded sweet, almost like she really cared about him opening up. It only served to anger Saber further. 

“I’m fine!” Saber snapped feeling slightly guilty after his outburst, however, he was still to pissed off to really feel that bad. After a few seconds of silence, Celica spoke again, testing the waters. 

“You don’t have to tell me it now- or ever. I just want you to know that if you need, you can tell me what happened.” That was it. Saber was officially pissed off and he wasn’t going to calm down until he gave Celica a piece of his mind.

“You want to know what happened so badly,” Saber growled out, letting Celica out of his arms rather harshly.

“Rigel isn’t a nice place to live when you’re well off. When you’re scum of the street it’s worse than death. I had to protect my little sister from everything! I’m good with a blade because if I wasn’t I’d be dead! I know starving, I know pain, I’ve seen the worst humanity has to offer and so did Charlotte-” Saber cut off his rant for a moment, the name of his sister bringing him back into his current situation.

He looked at Celica, her eyes fixated on him from where she leaned against a tree. She was shivering slightly and behind the interest was veiled fear. 

Saber sighed and sank down to lean against a tree. Celica did the same, relaxing against a trunk across from Saber. He began to speak again, this time however his tone was much more restrained. 

“She was good, so much better than I am. She was a bastard though, daughter of my mother and the baron of our little town. When my mother died, it was just me taking care of her. We didn’t have a house, we didn’t have money, we didn’t have food.”

Saber began fiddling with the hilt of his sword, his deep-set frown contorting in even more negative emotion.

“We had to fight to stay alive. I fought, she fixed me up afterward. I needed her and she needed me. We found a nice spot to stay once, a little shack at the edge of town. Some other kids wanted in, they said that they deserved it more than we did.” 

Saber pulled his sword out of the hilt and slammed it into the ground. Celica froze for a moment, jolted into a different position by Saber’s sudden and violent action. 

“We fought, outnumbered and hungry. They killed her by mistake- she fell backward and broke her neck. They just left the body, scared of getting in trouble and not at all guilty of taking a life. I buried her by the river and left Rigel as soon as I could.”

Saber growled low and took the blade out of the ground. He stabbed it in a few more times, each with more rage than the last. After about twelve stabs he slid his sword back into the scabbard. 

"I had a sibling. Conrad was my older brother. He died when my house was set fire to, I was the only one who made it out alive. For the longest time I felt like Conrad should have been the one to make it out and not me." Saber frowned and stared Celica down. 

"You better not be thinking like that now. I don't know this 'Conrad' fellow but I'm sure that I'd rather have you here by my side then him." Celica offered Saber a sad and thankful smile. Saber stood up and reached his hand out to Celica who took it, pulling herself up with Saber’s help. 

“I’m going to make sure you make it to the Temple of Mila. You may have lost your older brother but I'll be a stand in.” 

Celica smiled at Saber, leaning against him for support. They started back towards camp on shaky legs and without any firewood. 

“Don’t you dare go dying on me Celica.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”


End file.
